Bad news for Syria, but good news for Iraq’s Maliki government, which is facing its own political fallout with its Sunni Arabs. Al-Qaeda has joined the Arab League, Turkey and others in trying to back rebel groups in Syria, apparently with an eye toward installing a more favorable government.

Iraq is said to be trying to increase security along its border with Syria to prevent the flow of fighters back and forth, but with reports that violence in Nineveh is down some 50% since autumn it seems that the traffic has been overwhelmingly into Syria, and attempts to stop that have been unsuccessful.